Name change for Italy striker Mario Balotelli

 

Wednesday 06 June 2012 12:02 BST
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Balotelli: "Racism is unacceptable to me, I cannot bear it"
Balotelli: "Racism is unacceptable to me, I cannot bear it" (Getty Images)

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Uefa says Mario Balotelli will have both his family names on his Italy shirt at the European Championship.

The official player list for the tournament shows that the 21-year-old forward has registered "Barwuah Balotelli" as his shirt name. Balotelli was born in Sicily as Mario Barwuah to parents of Ghanaian descent. He took the name Balotelli from his foster parents in Brescia, who brought him up after he became ill as a toddler. He uses just the Balotelli name on his shirt when playing for Manchester City.

Balotelli hopes to have shaken off an adductor strain to play in Italy's opener against Spain on Sunday in Gdansk.

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